Jamal Kashoggi: US imposes visa ban on 76 Saudi officials

Emmanuel Ukudolo l Friday, February 26, 2021

 

WASHINGTON – More than two years after a Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Kashoggi was murdered  in horrifying circumstances inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Turkey, the United State has risen up to his defence by imposing visa ban on 76 Saudi officials linked with the state sponsored murder of the journalist, under the subject, Kashoggi  Ban.

Jamal Kashoggi had visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to perfect papers for his marriage while his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz waited outside. He never returned after entering the embassy. His body was dismembered and allegedly dissolved in a solvent.

Till date no trace of his body has been found, though authority in Saudi Arabia owned up to the murder. Former President of the United States took side with Saudi Arabia, despite protest from Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.

But eventually justice seems on the way for Jamal Kashoggi , thanks to President Joe Biden of the United States.  Speaking on the sanctions on the 76 Saudi officials, Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken said today, the Biden-Harris Administration submitted an unclassified report to Congress, providing transparency on this horrific killing.

“Alongside the transmission of that report, and as part of the President’s pledge, the United States Government is announcing additional measures to reinforce the world’s condemnation of that crime, and to push back against governments that reach beyond their borders to threaten and attack journalists and perceived dissidents for exercising their fundamental freedoms.

“To that end, today I am announcing the “Khashoggi Ban,” a new visa restriction policy pursuant to section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  The Khashoggi Ban allows the State Department to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work, or who engage in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such persons.  Family members of such individuals also may be subject to visa restrictions under this policy, where appropriate”, Blinken said, adding “to start, the U.S. Department of State has taken action pursuant to the Khashoggi Ban to impose visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing”, the statement added.

According to him, when identifying individuals for purposes of the Khashoggi Ban, we will also review them for designation under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2020, as carried forward by the CA Act of 2021, which authorizes the denial of visas to them and their immediate family members as well as their public identification”, he said.

He explained that as a matter of safety for all within the US borders, perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be permitted to reach American soil.

“I also have directed that the State Department fully report on any such extraterritorial activities by any government in our annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”, he said and that the United States will continue to shine a light on any government that targets individuals, either domestically or extraterritorially, merely for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

He stated that while the United States remains invested in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that partnership must reflect U.S. values.

“To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end.  They will not be tolerated by the United States”, he said.